My malaria control view

July 27, 2011 - 14:12 -- Jacques Drolet

Immuno-therapy is to therapeutic treatments what vector modification is to vector control. In other words, increasing the self-defense potential of either humans or mosquitoes is addressing the source of the problem for humans and for mosquitoes, both approaches giving a fundamentally hard time to Plasmo. Although I think that techniques like impregnated nets and breeding site reduction will continue to be needed, giving humans (vaccination) and mosquitoes (popcorn wolbachia) the means to fight back Plasmo is leading the true way out of malaria.

Comments

I think I understand your point about leading the way out of malaria. My question is - what do we do while waiting? How long must we wait? Especially if we can reduce malaria deaths immediately over large populations, with current methods for reducing mosquito populations.

I think the idea of a wonderful vaccine is great. I see no evidence that any are in sight, other than the current rather useless ones being tested. They might someday be as effective as the cholera vaccine, but you will notice cholera still kills.